Capital One Cup success this weekend would mean even more than European Cup success with Barcelona back in 1992, Laudrup tells the Sunday People's Dave Kidd

Glory at Wembley: Michael Laudrup (with Ronald Koeman) won the European Cup with Barcelona at the old Wembley Stadium in 1992

When Michael Laudrup won the European Cup at Wembley with Barcelona in 1992, more than a million people lined the streets from the airport to the Nou Camp to salute their historic triumph.

Should the Dane lead Swansea to glory in the Capital One Cup final at the same venue today, the ­open-top bus will not attract quite such a vast crowd.

But a first major trophy would mean as much to Swansea as that first European Cup meant in Catalonia.

And Laudrup insists that beating Bradford today would be even more satisfying.

The Swansea boss – who made history as part of a Barca side that included Pep Guardiola – said: “I know what it will mean to this city and this club, so that’s why it will be huge to me to win this final.

“It will be my biggest result because it’s a small club ­winning a major trophy. I won trophies with big clubs, but that’s not the same.

“I think that European Cup final against Sampdoria was the ­biggest win of my career.

“When I went to Barcelona in 1989, it was a huge club, but the ­managers were in and out of a revolving door and so were the foreign players.

“They’d only won three titles in 22 years and they had played a European Cup final at ‘home’ in Seville in ‘86 and lost to Steaua Bucharest as they missed all four penalties in a shoot-out.

“They’d never won the European Cup so imagine how important it was. We won it and I still remember the next day we went from the airport to the ­centre and there were more than one ­million ­people out on the streets.

“There will not be a ­million people on the streets of ­Swansea because there are only 200,000 living here – but it would be the first time they’d have won a major ­trophy.

“As a manager it will mean more to me because as manager you build up the team from the start of the season and you see the results – but as a player, you just do what you do.”

Laudrup, 48, has another great ­memory of the old Wembley stadium, and that came as a teenager when he starred in Denmark’s ­famous 1-0 ­victory over England. The result meant his ­nation ­qualified for the 1984 European Championship at the ­expense of Bobby Robson’s team.

Laudrup said: “I didn’t have time to be nervous as a 19-year-old at Wembley.

“I got a chance after one minute, one-on-one with Peter Shilton – I missed it because I had too much time to think.

“It was a huge game, though. Only the top team would get to the Euro finals and Denmark had never ­qualified before. We’d never beaten England, but we won 1-0.

“It’s a new Wembley, but it’s still Wembley. We are talking about the first time for Denmark to qualify, the first time for Barcelona to win the European Cup and it could be the first time for Swansea as well.” Back in 1992, the Welsh club’s long-serving Spanish defender Angel Rangel was 10-years-old and an avid Barcelona fan.

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Gliding Swans: Laudrup has impressed since taking the helm at the Liberty Stadium

The 30-year-old said: “My dad was there at Wembley. I was 10, I watched the match and as a Barca fan, that match was the best thing I can ­remember.

“I would go to the Nou Camp after training and I once waited and got Michael Laudrup’s autograph.

“I thought it was great when he came here last summer ­because I knew of him as a manager in Spain and knew his teams play good football.

“He was a big player, so I knew he would give Swansea that extra something worldwide. I was ­nervous because he was one of my idols, but he’s been great.”

While Swansea have clambered up from League Two to be able to attract a man of Laudrup’s calibre, Bradford’s march to Wembley has been the greatest ­fantasy tale of the season.

And Laudrup paid tribute to ­today’s opponents for making this season’s Capital One Cup so ­memorable – admitting he turned into a Bantams fan on the night they beat Arsenal in the quarter-finals.

The Swans chief said: “This ­competition will be remembered because of Bradford. In 10 years’ time they will still remember the year Swansea played Bradford, if it had been Swansea against Man United or City, it would be different.

“So we can win the game and they can be remembered as well, everyone is happy! That Arsenal game, once Arsenal equalised I thought they would go and win 3-1 or 4-1 in extra-time, but it was fantastic.

“I have to admit I was supporting Bradford – not because I thought we could play them, but because they were such under-under-underdogs.

“It wasn’t a Championship side, we’re talking a League Two club.

“There was a difference in quality, but not that big. Against Aston Villa in the semi-finals it was the same.

“Their set-pieces are fantastic. You kept expecting them to lose and they could have lost all three of their ties against Premier League teams, but they won them and that says a lot about the spirit of this team.

“But if my players are going to feel pressure at Wembley, can you ­imagine League Two players in front of 90,000 people at Wembley?”